Frederick, MD Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Under City Code Sec. 3-1, the City adopts Frederick County Code Chapter 1-5 in full, with several City-specific amendments written directly into the ordinance. A "dangerous dog" is defined as any dog that without provocation causes death or serious injury to a person, or that, after being designated a potentially dangerous dog by the Director of Animal Control, causes death or injury to a person or death or serious injury to an animal. A "potentially dangerous dog" is one that causes injury to a person without provocation that is less severe than serious injury, causes severe injury to or kills a domestic animal, or runs at large three or more times in any consecutive six-month period, or is impounded by the Division of Animal Control three or more times in that same window.

A dog loses the potentially dangerous designation two years after the last at-large citation if it has not reoffended. The County's Division of Animal Control administers and enforces this chapter within City limits exactly as it does in the unincorporated county, per Sec. 3-2. Frederick further amended County Sec. 1-5-22(F)(4) to require an owner to notify the Director in writing of any address change within 48 hours, and deleted County Sec. 1-5-25 and Sec. 1-5-9 outright. Any inconsistency between the county code and Frederick's amendments is resolved in favor of Frederick's amendment, per Sec. 3-4.